Summary of Findings
Writing, Technology & Teens - ii - Pew Internet & American Life Project
parents agree. Moreover, teens are filled with insights and critiques of the current state of writing instruction as well as ideas about how to make in-school writing instruction better and more useful.The main reason teens use the internet and cell phones is to exploit their communicationfeatures.
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Yet despite the nearly ubiquitous use of these tools by teens, they see animportant distinction between the “writing” they do for school and outside of school for personal reasons, and the “communication” they enjoy via instant messaging, phone textmessaging, email and social networking sites.
85% of teens ages 12-17 engage at least occasionally in some form of electronic personal communication, which includes text messaging, sending email or instantmessages, or posting comments on social networking sites.
60% of teens do not think of these electronic texts as “writing.”Teens generally do not believe that technology negatively influences the quality of their writing, but they do acknowledge that the informal styles of writing that mark the use of these text-based technologies for many teens do occasionally filter into their school work.Overall, nearly two-thirds of teens (64%) say they incorporate some informal styles fromtheir text-based communications into their writing at school.
50% of teens say they sometimes use informal writing styles instead of proper capitalization and punctuation in their school assignments;
38% say they have used text shortcuts in school work such as “LOL” (which stands for “laugh out loud”);
25% have used emoticons (symbols like smiley faces
) in school work.For more information on teens and electronic communication, please see Part 4:Electronic Communication starting on page 21.Both teens and their parents say that good writing is an essential skill for later success inlife.
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Analysis of daily communications choices is based on all teens, regardless of technology ownership.3 Lenhart, Amanda, Madden, Mary & Hitlin, Paul. (2005) “Teens and Technology: Youth are Leading theTransition to a Fully Wired and Mobile Nation,” Pew Internet & American Life Project, Washington, DC, July 27,2005
Even though teens are heavily embedded in a tech-rich world, they donot believe that communication over the internet or text messaging iswriting.The impact of technology on writing is hardly a frivolous issue becausemost believe that good writing is important to teens’ future success.
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